Happy Christmas and a year of quilts

As I panic about the size of the turkey ( too big for the oven...) and the lack of presents

 ( still to be bought by a frantic  shopper...) the dust in the house ( will it be noticed by visitors...) and the need for decorations in all areas... I decided to count the quilts. All the quilts, cushions and one notice board made this year for commissions and for my family and here they are, after a struggle to master Picmonkey editing,  so that I could make this collage....

Quilts made in 2014 by Green Star Quilts

There is one final quilt to show you this year. It has been made because of the kindness of Nancy and Sally at Fabric Rehab who sent me a free gift in a parcel of fabric I ordered from them. You can visit them here  they have some lovely fabrics....

Christmas fabric from Fabric Rehab

I added some green Enchanted Forest fabric:

Christmas fabrics

I made simple log cabin blocks with random width strips, using up some scraps too and lots of odd bits of wadding which I glued down firmly before quilting it all over with a squiggle design...

here you can see the odd bits of wadding 

Here is the layered quilt:

log cabin blocks

Now for the arty photos I thought...I hung the finished quilt on our evergreen hedge but the background was too dark....

Christmas quilt by Green Star Quilts

It was freezing outside so I beat a hasty retreat inside to take better photos...

Christmas quilt hanging on the bathroom door

and then the close up ones....

scrap pieces binding

This one is my favourite although it shows up my variable stitch length!

Add caption

At last I got to the sofa where it and I intend to stay over Christmas... with my scrap velvet cushions too.

Christmas quilt on the sofa

So now I just want to say Happy Christmas to everyone who visits my website and blog. You come from all over the world, some of you are friends, maybe others will become so. It is also just fine to enjoy a visit, stay a little while and feel connected to another quilter for a few minutes in a busy day. Thank you too for all your comments and kind wishes over the year. 

Next year I wish for a more peaceful world and the safe arrival of another little one in our family. I hope you have a lovely break too,

Very best wishes,

Sue   

Christmas quilts, happiness and families

I am beginning to feel the need for a little more organisation in the Christmas department here... well that's another way of saying I have a slight feeling of panic! It is not long before guests will be arriving, presents ( not bought yet) must be wrapped, a turkey the size of a large child will be collected and my Christmas culinary skills will be put to extreme tests... it is the time of the year where I need two cookers, a staff of six and a magical fairy with a very powerful wand to help out....

 But it is also a time for Christmas quilts and I have no shame in showing you quilts you may have seen before. Like the quilts themselves, I get these photos out at Christmas to enjoy the quilts all over again....

Polar Express Christmas quilt by Green Star Quilts

 Last year I made this Polar Express quilt for Christmas. I used an Advent calendar panel to get the train with pockets on the carriages and it worked really well.

The figures underneath were appliqued on with Bondaweb with the little boy holding the golden ticket out to the station master. I used the same style for another single bed quilt....

Christmas quilt by Green Star Quilts

The windows on the house opened to show the people inside waiting for Christmas Day

Little mouse in bed in the house

The flaps were fastened with velcro. Both of these quilts were made for a family with twins and I love to think about them snuggling up under them on Christmas Eve, full of excitement and the quilts adding a little bit more magic to the moment...

This year I have made a Christmas quilt for Alex who is still very little. Reindeer race across the sky and snowmen wait in the snow....

I know you have seen it before, but here it is again anyway, just to make you feel more Christmassy too....

Now I must get back to the 'to do' list.... beds to make up, cooking for the freezer, cards to write and so, so much more.... and it helps to know that all over the world you are doing the same things too, making a special time for families, welcoming home our grown up children who just need a rest and some help with childcare... and perhaps adding a guest family to the Christmas dinner...we are inviting Japanese friends who are far from home.... it is important to me to count our blessings and not forget the happiness of Christmas rather than the consumerism and shopping...

And of course there are still the quilts which are not finished yet..... still in the sewing room, along with my own personal snowman, the huge roll of wadding in the corner....

I hope it helps to feel solidarity across the world with present wrapping and the last few days of frantic shopping....

So in this oh so busy time,'Go steady', as my friend Jo says to me, and which I find so comforting, 

Kind regards,

Sue